By NNN-KUNA,
Gaza : A total of 975 Palestinians has been killed, including 311 children, and some 4,500 people have been injured in the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip that entered its 19th day on Wednesday.
Israeli air raids did not only target houses and mosques, but also began attacking graveyards.
On Wednesday, an Israeli F-16 plane fired two rockets at the southeastern side of the Sheikh Ridhwan graveyard in north Gaza City, making a big hole, destroying graves, and spreading bodies and bones everywhere, local radio stations said.
The attack also caused great damage in the neighbouring Hamza Mosque and nearby homes, they added.
The Salaheddin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), announced that two of its members were killed Wednesday morning in an Israeli air raid on east Rafah City in south Gaza Strip, while the Al-Quds Brigades of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced Wednesday that one of its members was killed in an air raid on the Khan Younis City.
Meanwhile, Israeli planes fired smoke missiles in central Gaza City on Wednesday, covering the city with a white cloud of heavy smoke that caused suffocation to many Palestinians, especially children, in addition to skin burning, Palestinian citizens told local radio stations.
Israeli air raids did not stop Tuesday night. They targeted a home in the Sheikh Ridhwan district, demolishing it, killing a Palestinian, injuring about 20 others, and damaging neighbouring homes, eyewitnesses said.
In addition, Israeli military ships fired many missiles at homes in the Al-Mashtal area northwest Gaza City.
Israeli forces also fired a missile at a metal workshop near the Firas traditional market in central Gaza City, destroying it and nearby homes.
They also bombarded the Al-Zaitoun district south of Gaza City and the northern parts of Jabalya and Beit Lahya towns north of the Gaza Strip.
Local radio stations reported that Palestinians were killed and wounded in the Israeli attacks and that ambulance vehicles could not reach them due to the heavy Israeli bombardment that lasted for hours.
In the meantime, the Israeli Army announced Wednesday that its planes bombarded more than 60 sites in the Gaza Strip Tuesday night, claiming that 30 of the sites were tunnels linking Rafah City with Egypt and that other sites included weapon caches and rocket-launching places.
The bombardment also targeted groups of Palestinian militants in the Al-Shujaiya district in Gaza City, spokesman of the army told Israel Radio.
Israeli forces discovered a tunnel linking Gaza with the Israel Nahal Oz area, he added.
The spokesman also announced that a senior Israeli officer and a soldier were injured in a clash with Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Haaretz Israeli newspaper claimed Wednesday that Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak aims to reach a week-long ceasefire in the Strip for humanitarian reasons.
It said Barak wants to enable Egypt to reach an agreement that allows ending the “Israeli military operation” in Gaza, and that he believes the continuation continuing the offensive will only bring operational complications and casualties.
Barak suggested keeping Israeli forces in Gaza while holding talks with Egypt and the United States on banning weapon smuggling into the Strip, Haaretz said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert however believes “the military operation” did not achieve its goals yet and that military pressure in Hamas should continue, it added.
Meanwhile, the Iranian television announced Wednesday that Israeli marine forces prevented an Iranian ship, which carried humanitarian aid, from reaching Gaza Port and informed it that getting any closer to the Strip would be considered a military offensive.
Head of the team on the Iranian ship Ahmad Nawab told the television that the Iranian ship is currently 20 miles away from Gaza’s coastline and was warned of getting any closer.
He said the team was trying to deliver the aid to the people of Gaza, but will have to return to Egypt and deliver it through the Rafah crossing instead if it fails to reach the Strip.
The Iranian ship, carrying 2,000 tons of food and medical aid, began its journey to Egypt from Iran on Jan 1.